Loveland heroes take Honor Flight

Northern Colorado contingent includes veterans of several wars

By Jessica Maher Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
09/09/2012 05:35:58 PM MDT

Veteran Phil Garbiso of Ault walks out of Embassy Suites Sunday morning with veteran Phyllis Minch, an Honor Flight Northern Colorado guardian. Chartered buses took 122 local veterans to Denver International Airport, where they boarded a flight to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials.
(Jessica Maher)

Loveland resident Marshall Spring received the Purple Heart for his U.S. Marine Corps service in the Iraq War, but as one of 122 veterans at Embassy Suites Sunday morning for the Honor Flight Northern Colorado departure, he looked around the packed room in awe.

Spring is the first Iraq War veteran to be included in Honor Flight Northern Colorado, which was organized in 2008 to provide every World War II and Korean War-era veteran in northeast Colorado with a free, two-day trip to visit memorials in Washington, D.C.

"They're the true American heroes," said Spring. "What they went through is much more patriotic and heroic than anything I ever did."

Families and friends send off 122 local veterans Sunday morning at the Embassy Suites in Loveland. The veterans rode to Denver International Airport, where they boarded a plane to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials with Honor Flight Northern Colorado. (Jessica Maher)

Approximately 44 World War II veterans took the trip and are always given preference based on the rate at which the country is losing them, said Honor Flight Northern Colorado board member Dick Life.

"The oldest one we've taken so far was 100 years old," he said.

Veterans and their families gathered at the Embassy Suites Sunday morning for a service prior to filling four chartered buses en route to Denver International Airport, led by Patriot Guard motorcycles and Larimer County Sheriff's Office vehicles.

"It's been pretty spectacular so far, so I'm sure everything else will be the same way," said Korean War veteran Carl Goeglein.

With the Patriot Guard riders lined up at the entrance holding American flags, a breakfast banquet provided by the hotel, patriotic music and the Color Guard, it was the beginning of two days of royal treatment. Or, as Honor Flight Northern Colorado board member Lee Seward told the crowd, it's all a giant "thank you."

"The reason we are all here is to thank you for all you have done," he said.

In Washington, the veterans will take a tour of the monuments and memorials that are dedicated to them -- the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial and Vietnam Wall.

"I've got friends over in Korea that were killed and I want to see that memorial," said Loveland resident Stuart Miller, Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Army.

For some, like Spring, it's a first trip to Washington D.C. For most, it will be the first time seeing the memorials for the Korean War and World War II, which were dedicated in 1995 and 2004, respectively. The last time Korean veteran Ken Miller of Fort Collins went to the nation's capital was 63 years ago on his honeymoon. Loveland resident Keith Simons, a World War II veteran decorated with two Purple Heart medals and the Bronze Star, said he hasn't been to Washington since his children were young.

He hadn't expected to go on Sunday, either, until his nephew Donald Svedman, a Korean War veteran, signed the 89-year-old up as a last-minute addition.

"I knew about it years ago and I wanted to take my wife but they don't let you do that," said Simons.

Svedman already had a seat on the flight and when he told organizers about Simons' service, they made room for him right away. They'll travel to Washington together and see the monuments dedicated to each of their wars, eras apart.

"It will be nice to travel with a guy that I used to go hunting with," said Simons.

In addition to the 122 veterans, 60 guardians, including more than a dozen medical personnel, make up the full chartered plane to Washington. When they return Monday, Honor Flight Northern Colorado will have taken almost 1,200 veterans on the trip. Businesses and individuals across Northern Colorado contribute to the cost of the trip, which amounts to about $1,000 per veteran.

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